What do the Braves do with Minor? There aren’t many options
Mike Minor in a start at Colorado earlier this month. It wasn't good, either. (AP photo)
Fredi Gonzalez said Wednesday night that he thought Mike Minor threw very well — for three innings. Which he did. Minor carried a no-hitter into the fourth. He was gone five outs later, having yielded seven base runners in the span of 10 Miami batters. For the fourth consecutive start, Minor was charged with at least six earned runs. His ERA rose to 7.09.
It’s clear that Minor is becoming a bit of a mess. After Wednesday’s game he said he let down his teammates, the organization and the fans. He said he didn’t want the other Braves looking at him wondering if this start was going to be as bad as last week’s, didn’t want them thinking they’d have to score a lot of runs to win — which had happened both at Colorado and St. Louis — just because Minor is pitching.
Minor is hard on himself, and you can see why. Last month he worked 7 1/3 one-hit innings against Milwaukee, which can hit, and followed that with eight strong innings in Arizona. After three starts, his ERA was 3.10. The past four starts have been awful — 20 2/3 innings, 32 hits (plus 10 walks), 27 earned runs. He’s still striking out people (23 K’s in those 20 2/3 innings), which suggests his stuff isn’t the issue. “I’m just making too many non-competitive pitches,” Minor said Wednesday.
Clearly the Braves want Minor to succeed. You’ll recall that Jair Jurrjens was shipped to Gwinnett after four similarly bad starts. The difference: Jurrjens was bad in spring training, too; Minor was actually quite good in Florida. Minor has at least given the Braves a reason to think he can get people out.
That said, this can’t go on forever. When Minor falls apart, he falls apart completely. Omar Infante led off the fourth with a line single to left, the Marlins’ first hit. Minor then hit Hanley Ramirez in the back and yielded a two-run double to Austin Kearns, whom he would strike out twice. Miami scored three runs in the fourth. The fifth began with singles by Jose Reyes and Infante and would produce three more runs. One bad inning begat another, and soon Minor was gone and his team was facing a five-run deficit.
The Braves’ hitting has been such that they’ve managed to win a few such games, but you’re not going to outslug everybody all the time. The Braves’ starting rotation has the second-worst ERA among National League teams, leading only Colorado. The reasons for that alarming number are Jurrjens, who’s no longer on the 25-man roster, and Minor, who’s still in the rotation.
It’s weird. All spring everyone was worried that the Braves wouldn’t hit, but they have. At issue now is the commodity that seemed to be a given — starting pitching. But what to do about Minor?
“Keep running him out there,” said Gonzalez, the manager, and there really aren’t many other options. Jurrjens just yielded 12 hits and 10 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Class AAA Buffalo Bisons. Moving Kris Medlen from relief wouldn’t do anything to sort out Minor and would mess up the bullpen to boot. Promoting Julio Teheran from Gwinnett would leave the big-league club without a left-handed starter, which isn’t what anybody has in mind.
The good thing is that the Braves aren’t in free-fall. They’ve lost one game in a row to fall a half-game out of first place. For all Minor’s struggles, they’ve worked around most of them, winning five of his eight starts. Over the long haul though, they need him to be a lot better. They need a lefty, and he’s the only one of those on the horizon.
There’s also this: The Braves didn’t draft this Vanderbilt lefty No. 7 overall in 2009 because they thought he’d look spiffy in middle relief. They did it because they thought he would be a big-league starting pitcher very soon. Sure enough, he’s one now. Just not a very good one.
By Mark Bradley
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211 comments Add your comment
BUBBA BEANS
May 17th, 2012
12:51 pm
MEDLEN WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE IN THE ROTATION NEXT YEAR (SMART THING TO DO CURRENTLY)
I STILL HAVE CONFIDENCE IN MINOR (VERY GOOD FASTBALL) GIVE IT TIME
bvillebaron
May 17th, 2012
12:52 pm
rosecoloredglasses:
Far better to wear rosecolored glasses than be blind. Funny how when the Braves kick the Cardinals 3 games in their park, they were lucky, but the Cardinals had no luck at all the last 6 weeks of the season. Give me a break!
DetroitBraves
May 17th, 2012
12:58 pm
I guess if you’re trying to make a point out here it has to be in all caps so trying again….
MINOR HAS BEEN RATHER UNLUCKY RECENTLY. GOING FORWARD I WOULD EXPECT THE RESULTS TO BE BETTER WITHOUT MAKING ANY DRASTIC CHANGES.
Whew, this internet thing is hard.
K.K.
May 17th, 2012
12:59 pm
K.K. ready to come assist Braves. Have lots Mississippi experience.
Bob the Blogger
May 17th, 2012
1:01 pm
The Braves made the correct decision in sending JJ down; now make the correct decision and send Minor down. There are several options: 1) Medlen 2) Teheran or 3) Todd Redman. Redman has a 2.84 ERA with 48 SO and 12 BB in 44.1 innings. Personally, I’d put Medlen in the rotation and call up Gearrin. He as an ERA of 1.31 with 21 SOs and 5 BBs in 20.2 innings.
Bob the Blogger
May 17th, 2012
1:02 pm
Redmond, not Redman. That’s chewing tobacco.
rosecoloredglasses
May 17th, 2012
1:10 pm
As I said, last season the Braves had alot of luck going for them, but the luck ran out and when they had to win, they could not get the job done. Luck gets you so far, then it runs out. It did last season, and it will again this season. They just do not have a quality playoff caliber team. 3rd place is about right, maybe 2nd, if their luck holds. Beachy is this year’s JJ. He is all world right now, but will come crashing back to earth, because quite simply, he is not that good. He is a good young pitcher, but not 1.60 ERA good. All in all, their rotation is not fooling alot of teams. They have been lucky, and luck runs out.
coach13
May 17th, 2012
1:13 pm
Better to have 5 adequate righties in the rotation than a lefty with a 7.0 ERA. Pull Teheran up and let Minor work on some stuff. It’s not rocket science.
DetroitBraves
May 17th, 2012
1:14 pm
I half agree with you Bob. I do think Minor can be afforded some more time. There are reasons to think he will pitch better. But with Jurrjens, while it’s true his ERA was a bit inflated at 9.37, his xFIP was 6.16. That ain’t exactly getting it done either. And unlike Minor, I still wonder if Jurrjens isn’t hurt. Pulling for him to get it together though. I don’t know much about Redmond other than I’m generally leery of 27-year-old pitchers repeating a level for the 4th time.
Pat
May 17th, 2012
1:15 pm
I wish we’d make Medlin a starter and move someone else to middle relief…
urban redneck
May 17th, 2012
1:25 pm
i thought he said earlier this season that he didn’t have anything else to learn in the minors. looks like he might have been mistaken.
Skeezix
May 17th, 2012
1:26 pm
Who will step up in the starting rotation? Someone needs to. Right now we only have two top quality/reliable starters–Beachy and Hudson. You need three.
What is going on with Venters?
DetroitBraves
May 17th, 2012
1:26 pm
Maybe he said he didn’t have anything else to learn about being Mike Minor. Of course, if he said that he’s probably even more mistaken.
juice sourcer
May 17th, 2012
1:27 pm
Have you’ll noticed that Derrick Lowe is 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 8 starts with Cleveland
mark's for the braves
May 17th, 2012
1:28 pm
I think it is ironic that for all the talk of the starting pitching the Braves were loaded with that we can’t find a decent 5-man rotation now. Should we trade some of our offence to get a decent starter?
PreyDawg
May 17th, 2012
1:30 pm
@Mark- I agree that we cannot wait forever but you almost seem to contradict yourself. The conclusion of the article kinda sounds like, “We can’t wait forever but we need to wait as long as it takes.”
Or maybe you mean, “We need to wait until Jurjens gets back on track…however long that takes.”
PreyDawg
May 17th, 2012
1:31 pm
@marks for the Braves- HECK no!!! I don’t ever want to suffer through another season like September of last year. It is more fun to loose this way if we have to.
DetroitBraves
May 17th, 2012
1:33 pm
Have you noticed that Derek Lowe has a 1.44 WHIP and has struckout 13 batters in 52.2 innings? If anyone is suffering from some kind of extreme short-term memory loss and thinks that this is a) sustainable or b) the Braves would be better off with Lowe back……Oh. Dear. God. No.
Rogie
May 17th, 2012
1:34 pm
Young pitcher. Hasn’t mentally figured it out yet. He’s showed he can pitch well into the seventh inning in several games a month ago, no he has lost it once he gets base runners. Is he having a problem pitching out the stretch when he has base runners? Is he giving a “tell” to the hitters from the stretch? Maybe part of this is mechanical.
Jim
May 17th, 2012
1:38 pm
Make Medlen a starter—he was great starting b4 he got hurt and is pitchimg good now. I believe it is a lot easier to find a set up guy than a dependable starter.
DetroitBraves
May 17th, 2012
1:41 pm
“I believe it is a lot easier to find a set up guy than a dependable starter.” – jim at 1:38.
I think you’re dead-on the money with that assessment Jim.
slydog
May 17th, 2012
1:50 pm
Here is a little bit of common sense: Minor to the bullpen or Triple A. Move Tehran to the bullpen if Minor goes to Gwinnett. Start Medlan; If not for Tommy John surgery, he would have been in the starting rotation anyway. Or, you could try to use Jurrjens out of the bullpen. His psyche should be ok because he just blew it for free agency.
REAGAN2012
May 17th, 2012
1:50 pm
MINOR LIVING UP TWO HIS NAME NEED TO WORK THOSEM PITCHES TIL HE CAN MAKE HIS BALLS DROP WHERE HE WANTS AND NOT OVER THE FENCE IN OUTFIELD HE MADE ME MAD SAYIN HE WANT TO BE TRADED BU T SEEMS LIKE HE IS HARD ON HISSELF MAYBE FREDI CAN CONVINCE HIS TO GO WORK THE BALLS OUT IN THE MINOR SO WE CAN HAVE A VERIABLE LEFTY FOR ALL THE BIG LEFTY TEAMS THEY ALL HAVE LEFTYS AGAINST OUR BIG LEFTY HITTERS
meh
May 17th, 2012
1:53 pm
I f he’d just relax and pitch I think he’d be fine. he gets all freaked at the first sign of trouble and starts trying too hard. McCann needs to go to the mound and slap him upside the back of the head when gets like that.
JeanE
May 17th, 2012
2:15 pm
Definitely a confidence issue, paging Dr. Jack Llewelyn, Smoltz needs to give Minor his phone # pronto.
NickGranite
May 17th, 2012
2:29 pm
All I know is we better straighten up a couple of pitchers quick because June beckons and we have the mother of all schedules in terms of competition that month.
John Galt
May 17th, 2012
2:30 pm
Minor should join JJ, or, if JJ is throwing well, change places with him.
“Saving” Medlen for the bullpen is beginning to look ridiculous-
?
May 17th, 2012
2:32 pm
Did anyone else hear the new playoff format? The wildcard winner gets to play the first two games at home against division winner. Am I the only one who doesn’t get this? I mean should the division winner open up at home LOL
james
May 17th, 2012
2:40 pm
Gonzalez needs to pull him quicker from a game. Anyone can see when he has lost it. Go to our long relief Medlin and leave him in. He will work through this.
keeping it real
May 17th, 2012
2:42 pm
J.J. has pitched 3 straight really good games in the minors. His ERA is right at 2.00. I don’t understand why he is not getting any love. Bring him back!
G
May 17th, 2012
2:49 pm
My question is, what evidence did we have that the pitching staff would be good? Jurrjens was bad at the back half, Hanson can’t pitch more than 5 – 6 innings, Hudson coming back from surgery and Minor wasn’t that good last year. This staff has a lot of holes. Same holes they had going into the season.
fredi knows bobby
May 17th, 2012
2:49 pm
Well, for one thing you dont leave pitchers in no more that 4 runs given up unless your are Fredi Gonzalez or Bobbay Cox. How many successful teams use the Chipper oh well mentality strategy.
loulo
May 17th, 2012
3:02 pm
look what a new pitching coach has done for Derek Lowe, maybe time for Braves to look in another direction for a new pitching coach.
rpidge
May 17th, 2012
3:07 pm
There best option is past. They had a chance to trade Minor for Pence and blew it. You now have what you have. The Braves need better talent evaluators.
blue
May 17th, 2012
3:09 pm
Bravissimo; they were all legit hits. He was not locating his pitches consistently. A couple of the balls hit really hard were center of the plate fast balls with no movement.
DawgDad
May 17th, 2012
3:11 pm
“look what a new pitching coach has done for Derek Lowe” Designated driver? Spokesman for fan relations? What?
I really get a chuckle out of all the batting/pitching coach posts.
Lady Luck
May 17th, 2012
3:13 pm
Maybe have Ross catch him every time. A vet presence can help at times. He starts getting out of line, send up Ross to talk to him, calm him down. The kid has the pitches, just lets his nerves overcome him at times.
FrankensteinSolaris
May 17th, 2012
3:15 pm
We should have traded for and gotten either Carlos Beltran or Josh Hamilton to help us out. I think the Braves need one more POWER BAT in the lineup for them to win the world series this year. I wish we still had Omar Infante in our lineup because he was always a great hitter too. When Omar was with the Braves, I think he hit .350 every year he was here.
Bobbys' Booger
May 17th, 2012
3:20 pm
Minor living up to his last name as always.
Bobbys' Booger
May 17th, 2012
3:22 pm
REally dude is a head-case…similar to Smoltz early on. Though stuff nowhere near as good. Medlin is the answer, but we do not know the true status of his arm as far as 5-7 innings. Livian H could be better than Minor…I mean dude is crafty…he’s gonna give up 2-4 but you can win with that as a 5 starter
Braves Fan
May 17th, 2012
3:39 pm
I give Minor 1 or 2 more starts. If he does poorly, you have to send him down and bring up Tehran. He’s 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA at Gwinnett. Hopefully, he’s worked out the spring training kinks.
D-Man
May 17th, 2012
3:48 pm
Never thought the day would come where I would worry about the Braves’ starting pitching more than their hitting…NEVER.
JoeFan
May 17th, 2012
3:49 pm
Read that Oswalt is waiting for an offer from a contending club. Wonder if the Braves are willing to invest in a proven starter for the remainder of 2012 and let Minor sort things out in AAA. This club has a chance to be a strong contender but after 2011 no games need to be thrown away.
fsubrave
May 17th, 2012
3:53 pm
lets see what gilmartin can do
Jo Nicca
May 17th, 2012
3:57 pm
Jo Nicca:
Who was the left-handed starter in 2010
Mike Minor
Jo Nicca
May 17th, 2012
3:58 pm
JoeFan
May 17th, 2012
3:49 pm
Read that Oswalt is waiting for an offer from a contending club. Wonder if the Braves are willing to invest in a proven starter for the remainder of 2012 and let Minor sort things out in AAA. This club has a chance to be a strong contender but after 2011 no games need to be thrown away.
Just had a huge discussion about this on DOB’s blog. Id agree to Oswalt but atlanta could only afford about 3M unless Jurrjens is gone
Jo Nicca
May 17th, 2012
4:02 pm
Bobbys’ Booger
May 17th, 2012
3:22 pm
REally dude is a head-case…similar to Smoltz early on. Though stuff nowhere near as good. Medlin is the answer, but we do not know the true status of his arm as far as 5-7 innings. Livian H could be better than Minor…I mean dude is crafty…he’s gonna give up 2-4 but you can win with that as a 5 starter
Agree. Medlen cant/shouldnt be stretched. Hes needed for 7th & 8th as O’flaherty has been questionable. And instead of having too rookie starters that will only go 5-6 innings at best using a flip flop with Hernandez & Minor seems ideal if Minor doesnt turn it around. or we could just ask Glavine to come back mayb he’ll pitch like Moyer
Jo Nicca
May 17th, 2012
4:05 pm
keeping it real
May 17th, 2012
2:42 pm
J.J. has pitched 3 straight really good games in the minors. His ERA is right at 2.00. I don’t understand why he is not getting any love. Bring him back!
cause he just gave up 11 runs last night in 4 2/3 innings
Kelly
May 17th, 2012
4:10 pm
Bizarre turn when Braves hit better than they pitch.
COOPER
May 17th, 2012
4:24 pm
Move Minor to the bullpen to try and work out his control and mental weakness. Move Medlin into the rotation. He was very effective before he got hurt and has been one of the more successful pitchers in the bullpen. He deserves to given another shot in the starting rotation.
As much as I hate it to happen if Minor can not get it together by all star you send him to the minors or trade him or release him.